


Playing at Life

by veituriel (skykiss)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Drabble, Fluff, Implied Daddy Kink, Lance and Keith arguing, M/M, Oneshot, SHEITH - Freeform, There's more introspection than actual game playing, Use of the actual word daddy, kind of, no actual smut just the preface
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-10
Updated: 2016-09-10
Packaged: 2018-08-14 05:25:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8000194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skykiss/pseuds/veituriel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Voltron crew are playing a game. It doesn't end well. Or does it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Playing at Life

**Author's Note:**

> This is my second posted fic so far-except this one is pretty much complete. I'd like to thank my lovely beta ariosedreamer for waving their magic hands over it and giving me the confidence to post.  
> PS- mind the tags please!

"Awwwwww, Keith is a daddy!"

Lance didn't seem to realize that being on the other side of a game board wouldn't stop Keith from pegging a tiny plastic car with sniper-like accuracy right into his forehead. It even made a little tapping sound.

"OW! Geez, man, child abuse!" Lance whined, rubbing the stinging red welt on his forehead. He clearly valued amusing himself at Keith's expense over his own physical integrity.

"Oh get over yourself; you're only one year younger than me."

"Yeah, but I'm still a minor!"

"A minor pain in my ass," Keith muttered, and then they were at it again. Pidge, in their infinite wisdom, had taken the brief reprieve to get the hell out of dodge. Shiro could see them peeking out from behind one of the couches with Hunk.

  
These two... they were probably the only people he'd ever met who could turn a game of Life into a war zone. It wasn't even close to the vague example of Earthly sportsmanship that the Alteans had dared hope to see- and the game was barely halfway through. Their distress was apparent. Poor Allura was starting to look like an overwhelmed schoolteacher, and Coran looked like he was debating whether or not to get between the boys.

Shiro sighed and covered his face with his hand. He couldn't even find the energy to be embarrassed.

"Just imagine- you in a little minivan with all your little mullet babies. I bet-"

"BOYS!" Allura finally snapped. Her voice rose above the din and suddenly everything was still. Bodies froze and eyes were locked on her from every direction. "You are Paladins of Voltron, and I suggest you behave as such. It appears everyone here is fatigued from our earlier battle, so I believe it would be wise to.. 'turn in' for now." Only silence followed. Allura seemed to take that as affirmation before she stood, as elegant and flowing as ever, and smoothed skirt of her dress with her hands. She brushed past the couches as she left, taking Pidge's eyes with her.  
Coran followed hurriedly, only sparing a quick salute and "don't let the tec-voph bite!" for the Paladins.

As soon as they were gone, Lance was looking entirely too smug and Keith was giving him one of his patented dead-faced stares.  
Shiro decided to step in.

"The princess is right," he said, putting a hand on Keith's shoulder. "We should all get some rest."  
Keith stared up at him through thick lashes for just a moment as Lance huffed, giving in and gathering up his side of the mess. Even Pidge and Hunk abandoned the relative safety of their couch to help. Shiro was grateful for that, because it barely took two minutes for the five of them to hunt down any missing pieces and put the game back properly. Eventually, everyone dispersed to their respective rooms, leaving only Shiro and Keith in the common area.

Keith was standing with the game box in his hands, staring at the little cube of plastic that had started it all-a red car with two tiny blue pieces and three similar pink ones inside. He seemed lost in space somehow, distant, like he was using the mess of bright colors he held to see something else. Shiro's stomach dropped at the sight, unable to decipher the flood of emotions Keith held just beneath the surface. He knew Keith would talk, though, if it was important, so Shiro did what he thought was best at the moment- he moved in closer and asked Keith what he was thinking about.

Keith closed the box, setting it aside on a nearby table.

"What Lance said earlier... What I told Pidge when they wanted to leave...if maybe there's something that comes after all of this." He gestured around them, to the alien architecture and the machinery.

"That's all."

Shiro felt his expression soften as he watched Keith look out a window at the infinite abyss beyond, to endless possibility.

"I don't see why not," Shiro shrugged, drawing Keith's attention back to himself. "And even if this is a responsibility we carry for the rest of our lives, creating some semblance of normal isn't out of the question."

Keith nodded in the sure kind of way that suggested he'd come to a similar conclusion on his own.

"I decided that it doesn't matter right now," he said matter-of-factly. There was a resolve in Keith's tone that made him sound more like himself. "This is my normal and you're my family-until something manages to change that." Shiro couldn't stop himself from smiling at the protective tilt of those words-like Keith would fight to keep things this way, if it came down to it. Shiro took Keith’s hand in his own, gently tugging him around and closer to his chest. Keith melted at the warmth in Shiro’s eyes, his own closing when Shiro leaned in to steal an innocent kiss.

After a blessedly soft, silent pause with Keith nuzzled snugly up against Shiro's neck and Shiro's cheek pressed against Keith’s temple, Shiro hummed.

“Well, I think it’s time for bed,” he teased, “right, _daddy_?”

Keith’s spine tingled at the look Shiro gave him when they separated- eyelids low over a playful glint. He felt the placid atmosphere shift at the spark that had been ignited, and he couldn't resist the magnetic draw of its light. He wanted to feed it until it consumed them both.

The glare he sent was obviously false, but its nature was enough to tell Shiro just what Keith thought of that particular comment.

“I think yes, and I think you're being a shit. Do you _want_ to be punished?”

Shiro pursed his lips and shrugged, but Keith knew he was outright grinning when he turned around to lead them down the hall- so he inched a little bit closer and dealt a well-deserved smack to Shiro’s rear. The surprised little yelp was a bonus.

“Fuck, Keith!” Shiro hissed.

“That's the idea,” Keith snarked.

Their quiet laughter and sniggering disappeared behind their joint bedroom door, emptying the halls of Paladins and leaving the rest of the castle in homely stillness.

**Author's Note:**

> PHEW. So I hope me finishing this at 4 AM was worth it- it's kind of rushed and I'm still getting into the swing of things, but I hope you could enjoy this- the result of a joke between me and some friends.  
> Thanks for reading!!


End file.
